Powder Blue Report

News, finance, politics, sports, and fun from the west coast

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Oh Boy.....

Literally for former SC & Mater Dei quarterback standout Matt Leinart. It was reported today that Matt and his former girlfriend Brynn Cameron are expecting a baby boy come November. My first thought was that this chick just won the lottery. My second one was....what in the hell is Matt thinking? Don't they teach Trojans how to use Trojans? Dude, you have(or had now) plenty of time to enjoy being a bachelor and professional football player. I mean,is she still your girlfriend? What does Paris Hilton think about all this Matt? Brynn is way cuter than Paris IMO. Quoting a famous proverb..."he who does not wrap it up will be changing diapers soon". I'm out

Monday, August 28, 2006

You'll Never Guess What Just Happened???

There are certain things in life that people can count on. You know, things like death & taxes, the sun rising in the east & setting in the west, Arnold acting like a Democrat, Michael Moore not missing a meal, DC Republicans giving lip service to conservative issues, etc. You get the picture. You can count on these aforementioned things happening 100% of the time. So that brings me to tonight up in Sacramento. Yes that's right, the Legislature is still in session and wouldn't cha know it, the Assembly passed another illegal alien drivers license bill. Gee, I wouldn't have guessed that they would do this in a thousand years. Yes "One Bill Gil" is back with a vengence. Chuck DeVore was just on John Zieler's show and confirmed this.

This brings us to our Governor. One would think that this would be an easy softball for the Governor to veto. You think those thoughts at your own peril. Arnold hasn't exactly been strong on illegal immigration the last few months. In fact, he's downright become an open border radical. We know he thinks people who want the immigration laws enforced as being racist. We know he no longer supports Proposition 187. We know he prefers the Senate comprehensive "amnesty" immigration bill. Why are all my Republican friends so sure he will veto this bill? I have lost all confidence in the Governor on this issue.

Sunday, August 27, 2006

A Saturday Night Safari At The Santa Ana Zoo

Last night Lynn and I had the opportunity to attend the Santa Ana Zoo's annual Zoofari. We are both huge animal lovers. Usually we head down to the San Diego Zoo or Wild Animal Park because we are members there. Neither of us had ever been to the Santa Zoo which is right in our backyard. This was a good opportunity to hang out with some good friends who invited us(thanks to Ron and Charlene Wildermuth) and to see the all the animals they have on display at the Zoo. It was a fun night.

One of the highlights of the night was seeing an old friend of mine Chris Hoy and his display of his wildlife drawings at the Zoo. Chris is an great artist who gets to make a living out of his passion for drawing wildlife. Very few people get to do that. One of his specialties is drawing the family pet. Check out some of his work here.

Lastly, what would a night like this be without some sucking up by local and hopeful politicians. 34th Senate District combatants Lynn Daucher and Lou Correa were there as well as some members of the Santa Ana City Council.

Friday, August 25, 2006

Friday Night Lights

The smell of fall is in the air and that can mean only one thing as far sports is concerned...football...high school, college and pro. I love this time of year. It brings back memories of "hell week" and all the other things associated with football. When I was at Mater Dei back in the late eighties, the varsity football players had to camp at school 24/7 during hell week. This was affectionately called "Camp Monarch". That meant sleeping in the portable classrooms at the time. We had grueling practices twice a day in the late summer heat. I can remember weighing myself after practices and shedding sometimes up to ten pounds after each practice! Those were the days.

These past few years the Bruce Rollinson led Monarchs have been racking up national, state, and CIF championships at a breakneck pace. I hear the team this year is loaded again and should contend for a CIF championship. The picture above is of us destroying our supposed arch enemy last year, the Servite Friars. Homecoming this year is Oct 27th against the up and coming team of Orange Lutheran. I plan on being there as well as a few other home games at the Santa Ana Bowl.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

America Is Culturally Devoid...According To Tony Bennett

I saw this article on Drudge and just had to comment about it. Tony Bennett thinks America is culturally devoid except for creating jazz music. I beg to differ, but here is the meat of the article:

The IF I RULED THE WORLD crooner feels that Europe and Asia offer far more culturally than America does. Bennett says, "I have travelled around the world to Asia and Europe. They show you what they have contributed to the world. The British show you theatre, the Italians show you music and art, the French show you cooking and painting, and the Germans show you science. "The only thing that the United States, which is still a young country, has contributed culturally to the world is jazz - elongated improvisation. It's tragic." And Bennett feels that Americans don't even appreciate the impact of jazz in popular culture. He says, "Fifty years from now people will be bowing to DIZZY GILLESPIE and CHARLIE PARKER, just like impressionist painters like MONET, who were starving in their day. The Americans don't even know what they have come up with."

He acts like we care about all the aforementioned Eurocentric "cultural" items. I could give a rats ass about art...one word...BORING. We have created tons of culture. Here is my list: NASCAR, South Park, NFL Football, Beavis & Butthead, gangsta rappers, etc. What is that guy talking about.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

CRP Convention & Other Weekend Notes

I started my weekend off early by taking Friday off to jet up to Sacramento to celebrate my Grampa Kenny's 85th Birthday. Happy birthday again Grampa! A great time was had by all the cousins, aunts & uncles. Grampa is like a rock star where he lives at the Davis Retirement Center. He has had a great life and we expect many more good years to come.

The next morning it was back to OC on the first Southwest flight out of Sacramento. The plane was pratically empty. I had the back off the plane nearly to myself. I like sitting in the back off the plane. They say it's statistically the safest part of the plane in a crash...not that I'm ever expecting one. Hopefully I'll never have to test those odds. Anyway, the view looking down on the Sierras was spectacular. You can see all the major landmarks of Yosemite clear as day. You could also see Mono Lake & Mammoth Mountain way in the distance. One of these days I'm going to get my pilot's license. I've always wanted to do it.

So I get home and then it's off to LA to the CRP Convention. I read the Flashreport Saturday morning when I got home from Sacto and Jon was saying that the convention was pretty sparsely attended. I'll go ahead and vouch for that. There was even speculation that a quorum might not be reached(that didn't happen). I can't remember the last convention that had so few party activists there. Maybe it's because Arnold's not very motivating to the base. Hint, hint team Arnold. The party ended up endorsing almost all the stupid bond measures and they watered down the resolutions on illegal immigration even though Arnold tried to talk a good game on the issue in his speech on Saturday. Talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words. It is extremely disappointing to me and a lot of other grassroots actvists to see the road the party is going down right now on the issues. The higher ups in the state party structure can try to talk all they want about how great we're going to do in November, but I'm not drinking that kool aid. I think we're going to lose every constitutional office sans the governorship.

There are a few other juicy little tidbits that I gleamed during the convention. Jim Gilchrist was there over the weekend speaking with convention goers, hocking his latest book, and from what I heard last night, he spoke with some of Congressman John Campbell's staffers and has endorsed Cong. Campbell for re-election because he thinks he is doing a great job. I say bravo to Jim for acknowledging the fine job our Congressman is doing. Bravo also to Jim for having the humility to support a guy who as recently as late last year he was having a knock down drag out fight with on illegal immigration and the right to represent the 48th CD in Congress. I know some people still think Jim is a little whacky(BTW, who isn't a little whacky?...as Jimmy Buffet says..."everyone has fruitcakes in their family"), but it's my opinion that the tough fight for this office has made John Campbell a stronger & better Congressman.

It was kind of a downer convention IMO. There just was no buzz. I am someone who loves to get on the phone and mix it up with our high propensity voters. I can see myself trying to tell our base what Arnold's people want us to spew. If there was truth in advertising, this is what it is going to sound like...

"hello Mr. Jones, this is Allan Bartlett from the Republican Party of OC. We think the state is not in debt enough so we we're urging a yes vote on all the bond propositions this November. Arnold also thinks illegal immigration is a federal issue and therefore he has no business showing leadership on this issue. He prefers to give amnesty to all the illegals that are here. He does however think that global warming is a huge problem so he has some proposals to lay larger burdens on businesses to help with this problem. So can I count on you to get out there and support the Republican ticket?"

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Meet The Next Irvine Mayor Tomorrow Night

John Duong will be at our monthly IRC meeting tomorrow night. This is a great opportunity for everyone to come to the meeting and meet the next Mayor of Irvine. Here is the press release from Charlene Hatakeyama Wildermuth:

Dear Republican Neighbors,

Our Republican candidate for Mayor of Irvine, John Duong, will be attending the IRC meeting tomorrow night. This is an opportunity to meet John, and discuss with him the issues that are important to you and your family – traffic, smart planning for the Great Park and IBC, etc.

John will be visiting with us at 5:45 PM, before the general meeting. Also, Dana Point Council member, Diane Harkey, will be our speaker at 7:00 PM, and will discuss what it’s like to run for State Senate.

It promises to be an interesting and informative evening. Hope to see you there!

Date: Thursday, August 17th.

Time: 5:45 – 6:15 PM – John Duong

6:15 – 7:00 PM – General meeting

7:00 PM – Council member Diane Harkey

Location: Irvine Ranch Water District, 15600 Sand Canyon Ave, Irvine

Regards,

Charlene Hatakeyama Wildermuth

Chairman,

Irvine Republican Council

John will also be attending the Mitt Romney event at the St. Regis later the same night. Frank Mickadeit also mentioned John again in his column this morning. Mitch Goldstone has endorsed him and decided not to run for Mayor himself. He had pulled papers.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Mitt "Open Borders" Romney Coming To Socal Thursday

Word has it that Taxachusetts Governor Mitt Romney will be in town Thursday for a big fundraiser down at the ritzy St Regis in Dana Point. As I said in an earlier post, it's too bad that Romney is an open border Republican. All you have to do is look at one of his official blogs to realize this. He is for the "comprehensive" or amnesty plan as I like to call it. This doesn't cut it Governor. If you want to appeal to the base of our party in a Presidential primary, you better get religion on this issue. Your polling should have told you that this is the number one issue right now in California. So instead of using the state like your own personal ATM machine, you might want to try to woo the conservative activists who will make or break your fledgling campaign. What's even funnier is that you and John McCain will fighting for a very small slice of the GOP electorate by being so pro open borders. I truly believe that the next GOP Presidential nominee has to come out strongly for the House's enforcement first immigration plan. Note to self: rememeber to cross Mitt Romney off my list of Presidential contenders. Come to think of it...maybe Mr Romney will be at the CRP Convention in Los Angeles this weekend and I can tell him myself.

Monday, August 14, 2006

A Good Immigration Paper

I came across a good paper on illegal immigration over at Immigration Watchdog. You can read it here. As we get closer to the GOP Presidential primariry next year, I will be vetting all the GOP nominees to see where they stand on illegal immigration. If they're anything like John McCain's or Mitt Romney's views, they can kiss the conservative vote goodbye. Here's a sample of Gov Romney's immigration views

illegal immigrants should be identified and required to apply for green cards, which would allow them to live and work in the United States. Those whose applications are accepted could stay, the rest would be returned to their native countries.

That my friends is what we call amnesty or regularization according to Hugh Hewitt(nice euphemism Hugh). I'm reading and hearing from Republicans that Romney is up and coming. I want to put a stop to that right now. I hate seeing my fellow Republicans already trying to rubber stamp a guy as Presidential timber when he is all out open borders. It's like the quasi leaders in the party don't get it still. Our base as well as a majority of Americans wants the laws enforced. They'll be no triangulating on this issue.

Thoughts To Start The Week

It's been a whirlwind the last few days fielding emails and calls about the news that Irvine voters finally have a clear contrast in their choice for mayor and city council. I am obviously happy that John Duong has decided to lead the fight in the battle to return Irvine to open and honest government. It took a lot of guts to do this. John is about to be slimed like he has never been slimed before. We're talking industrial strength Ghostbusters type slime here. This race is for all the marbles. The coalition that wins this election will be making Great Park contractual decisions that will affect Irvine and Orange County for years into the future. We have to get it right. If Larry loses, he will not be able to make himself Executive Director of the Great Park Conservancy/King of Irvine like he has always dreamed of. I posted a few weeks ago all the baggage that Team Larry must defend in this election here.

The races for mayor and city council are not partisan races per se, but lets not kid ourselves. The majority in control of things right now are card carrying members of the Democratic Party. Their way of doing business lately would make Duke Cunningham blush. I might also remind voters that Larry ran for President in 1992 as a flaming liberal. He failed miserably at this, but then he came back home to win power in 1998. Larry will never mention this that he and his slate are very liberal Democrats, but I just did. That would be too much baggage to carry in Irvine where Republicans still outnumber Democrats by a healthy 43% to 29% margin. Larry is trying to remake Irvine into a West LA type area with high rises and mass transit shoved down citizens throats. Mind you hardly anyone uses mass transit in Irvine, but that hasn't stopped Larry from trying to build Centerline right through the heart of Irvine. I'll tell you what Larry, when you start riding the buses & trains to do all your errands in socal, you let me know. You're just a big hypocrite. That's what I hate about liberals. They always think they know what's best for everyone.

The Irvine Republican Council and our army of volunteers are going to pull out all the stops to get our voters to the polls. We're going to be talking to all voters about making a fresh change in leadership at city hall. Anyone is welcome in this campaign. If you would like to volunteer(we especially love first timers who have never volunteered for a campaign before), please email Charlene Hatakeyama-Wildermuth(charlenehata@cox.net) or myself(gab200176@yahoo.com).

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Team Irvine Is In Place

I am happy to announce that my good friend John Q. Duong has pulled papers and has the necessary number of signatures already for a run to become Mayor of my beloved city of Irvine. John announced he was running tonight over at our Republican headquarters by the airport. I just had a couple of my neighbors provide the finishing touches in the form of their signatures to complete John's necessary papers to file with the city clerk tomorrow.

John has a great story. He immigrated to the US from Vietnam as a refugee back in 1982. The rest as they say is history. Here is his biography

The rest of the "get back to good government slate" is comprised of Christina Shea(she's running for re-election to the council) and Bill Mavity(he's currently Christina's appointee to the Planning Commission). As is the case with all Irvine elections, this race will be a battle royale/bloodbath like they usually are. Larry Agran is a dirty campaigner who has shaken down errrr I mean received thousands of dollars in questionable campaign donations from people and companies that do business with the city. He uses this dirty money to fund his so called "Hometown Voter Guide" that he bombards voters with. He'll also try to get a fake "conservative" to run to siphon Republican votes away from our slate(Earl Zucht).

The fact that John is also of Asian decent will not hurt him as he reaches out to the Taiwanese/Asian community after the recent sister city debacle. He understands unlike the current Mayor, Beth Krom, that pledging to abide by a one China policy like Beth promised is not only bad policy, but seriously offends Irvine residents of Taiwanese decent. I was at the past few council meetings and saw the loathing of Mayor Krom firsthand. She has been clue free up there the past few months on this issue. There will also be plenty of fodder about all the no bid contracts handed out by the current council majority. The theme for this campaign basically going to be a return to good government. We miss that here in Irvine. John Duong is a statesman and a leader. Irvine will be lucky to have him leading us in the next few years.

Let The Games Begin.....In Irvine

We finally know who is going to carry the torch for good government in Irvine this November, but I am sworn to secrecy until later this evening. All I can say right now is that this team will have a great shot to return control of good government to the people of Irvine come November.

This Is Funny....Please Click The Link Below

Friday, August 04, 2006

Best Quote Of The Day

Congressman Sessenbrenner of Wisconsin was interviewed by John & Ken the other day. When asked by the boys what it was like to oppose the White House on illegal immigration, he came up with a great one...

They(the White House) tried to triangulate me on the Real ID Act last year. They found out the hard way that they couldn't roll me on this issue

On another note, when are they going to release Mel Gibson's audio of his anti-semetic rant when he got arrested last week. I need to hear this audio. I can already imagine the song parodies Howard Stern listeners are going to make out of this material. The Pat O'Brien song parodies on the Stern show are hilarious. I need to break down and get Sirius Satelite radio for my truck. I couldnt't believe the awesome sound quality and hardly any commercials to listen to when I was in Arizona last week.

Proud Crackas Of California Unite!

This is a shout out to all my cracka homeys in the state. That's right, all of us Californians that oppose the illegal immigration invasion are "crackers" according to State Senator Don Perata. Thanks for that one Don. In fact maybe we should just start flooding your office with Saltines like John & Ken just mentioned on their show. Ask Mayor Reconquista what happened when he uttered his famous line to his illegal alien brethren..."we clean your toilets". We flooded Los Angeles City Hall with thousands of toilet brushes :) I guess what I'm trying to say Don is that why don't you worry more about all the murders in your Oakland district instead of slurring people who are against illegal immigration. Don has quite a sorted history himself. He is currently under investigation by the feds for influence peddling. So get ready for a deluge of Saltines Mr Perata. They are on their way.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Congress Cooking The Books?

According to a lot of accounting experts they absolutely are. Here is the shocking(or not) story from USA Today this morning. We all know that the Congress doesn't play by the rules that it sets for everyone else and this is just more confirmation. The budget deficit this year according to the Congress is $318 billion.

The set the government doesn't talk about is the audited financial statement produced by the government's accountants following standard accounting rules. It reports a more ominous financial picture: a $760 billion deficit for 2005. If Social Security and Medicare were included — as the board that sets accounting rules is considering — the federal deficit would have been $3.5 trillion

It sounds like Enron accounting if you asked me. I got news for the Republicans in DC...you can fool the people some of the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time. I'm very concerned about these upcoming midterm elections. Stories like these about using bogus numbers do not help. You add to this a slowing economy and rising inflation...well you have a recipe for electoral disaster. They called it stagflation back in the Carter era. I think Nancy Pelosi should start measuring the drapes for her new office of Speaker. Mind you, I hope the dems do not reclaim power, but as I'm gazing into my crystal ball, I don't see a rosy election shaping up for Republicans like 2000, 2002, 2004 etc.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

RESOLUTIONS ON ILLEGAL ALIENS AT CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN PARTY CONVENTION

I'm proud to announce that no less than four resolutions dealing with illegal immigration will be offered at the GOP state convention in a few weeks. Steve Frank has a rundown here on them.

The first one will be a "no benefits" resolution a la Prop 187. The second one will deal with the issue of "anchor babies". The third one is an "enforce the law" one. The last one will stress no amnesty in any new immigration law.

This will be a good chance for the party to go on record about what the right policy and position should be on these issues. I'm sure team Arnold will stop at nothing to try to water down or defeat these resolutions. After all, he voted for Prop 187 before he "found a new position on it" according to a recent quote by Lt Gov. candidate Tom McClintock. He flip flopped on it in other words!

Speaking of Mr. Hypocritical himself(Arnold), it looks like it's okay to come out strongly against "global warming", but illegal immigration is a federal issue and therefore I can't take a strong position on it. We now know Arnold has a nice double standard going. Global warming is really really important, but it's okay if California turns into Mexico(according to actual illegal aliens this week in the LA Times). I got it Arnold.

Havana Daydreaming

Stashed his trash in Ecuador, bought a good suit of clothes.Flew on up to Mexico, standin' by the shore.Waiting for some mystery man, to pay him for his time.Thinkin' about all the money he made,couldn't help to ease his mindHavana daydreamin' oh he's just dreamin' his life away.

Daddy shucked that sugar cane,One day he fell dead.Jesus had a wanderin' feelin'Swimmin around in his head.Sailin' on a midnight boat,There were no questions asked,Water's so green and the air was so cleanThat he stuck right to his task, Havana daydreamin',Oh he's just schemin', his life away.

Ceilin' fan stirs the airCigar smoke did swirl,A fragrance on the pillow caseAnd he thinks about the girl.Spillin' wine wine and sharin' good timesShe sure could make him smile.He pays her well but what the hellHe'll be movin' in a little while, Havana daydreamin',Havana daydreamin'Oh he'll be dreamin' his life away.

That's the title to one of favorite Jimmy Buffet songs. I would also love to visit Cuba some day when it is free from Fidel Castros brutal reign. This brings me to the current news of the day that Fidel had emergency intestinal surgery yesterday and has passed the baton of power to his brother/right hand man/brutal leader in his own right, Rual Castro. One of these days the people of Cuba are going to rise up and demand a free country. I hope that day is near.

Bill For Carona's Bad Decisions Coming Due

It's a pretty slow news morning, but this story in the Register caught my eye...Golfers file $4 million suit against county. You can't make this stuff up. When this case is all said & done, it's going to cost the county thousands of dollars in settlement and attorneys fees. Maybe the Sheriff needs to get "educated" (his words about Chris Norby's questioning of his survey request) about how it's not kosher for him to give a gun and a badge to campaign contributors.

Mike also wrote a letter to the Register that was published in this mornings paper that tries to rationalize why he needs his little $400k survey. Thankfully Supervisors Norby and Correa voted against giving him this blank check. I'm sure though that this decision will be reversed when Supervisor Campbell get to vote on this issue(he was absent from the last vote). He seems to be an automatic rubber stamp for all the Sheriff's requests. C'mon Bill, surprise me.